Nellie was Nellie Curtis except when she was Zella Nightingale or Yetta Solomon or Nellie Gray. Mostly, she seems to have been Nellie Curtis. I couldn’t find any pictures of the real Nellie, but the opening image is probably true to life. Nellie was a businesswoman who knew how to give men what they perceived as a good time.

As luck would have it, we sat at a table where Nellie has a permanent reservation. The label read “Nellie’s Table — Nellie Nightingale Curtis was small of stature with a big appetite. Always dressed to a T, she was often seen dining around town with local politicians and businessmen who shared her passion for the finer things in life.”

 Nellie arrived in Seattle and opened for business in 1933 at the Camp Hotel on First Avenue and Virginia. In 1942 Nellie took advantage of the post Pearl Harbor relocation of Japanese-Americans. She bought the lease to the Outlook Hotel located at First and Pike from the Kodama family, and renamed it LaSalle. One source suggests the name was a reference to General Motors LaSalle luxury car.

Nellie remodeled the 1909 four-story, fifty-seven room hotel with new wiring and plumbing, fresh cream paint, and classy furniture. Nellie’s girls dropped off calling cards for sailors coming into town for shore leave. The cards offered an enticing slogan: LaSalle Hotel, Friends Made Easily. Apparently the sailors needed friends and several hundred crowded around the entrance. The military declared the LaSalle Hotel off limits.

The LaSalle Hotel had seventeen permanent guests. Nellie once said, “If they stayed a week, I called them permanent.” Other guests were less rooted. Some rooms changed hands three times a night. Nellie said she didn’t know why guests left so quickly. “I never asked any personal questions.”

Nellie kept two rooms for her own use. She kept her collection of hats in one and her collection of money in the other. In 1951 Nellie sold the hotel to George and Sodeko Ikeda. Sodeko watched Nellie look for the key, and recalled “she couldn’t find the key…I saw a lot of money in every drawer she pulled out…she had a vanity and a dresser. She pulled out the lampstand drawers too. And in every drawer she pulled out she had a lot of cash.”

The Ikedas had a hard time convincing Nellie’s “clients” the new hotel was respectable. Finally they posted signs saying NO GIRLS.

 Nellie left Seattle and settled in Aberdeen, a small town near Gray’s Harbor, where she bought the Cass Hotel for $25,000 and invested another $10,000 in renovations. Nellie called the establishment Curtis Hotel.

Nellie’s life in Aberdeen became even more colorful than her Seattle reputation. More to come next week.

Acknowledgements:

Photos Taken by Author at Pike Brewing Company

Pike Brewing Company. Here.

Walt Crowley and Paul Dorpant. National Trust Guide: Seattle. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998.

William Dietrich. “A Century at the Pike Place Market.” Pacific Northwest Sunday Magazine. Seattle Times. June 3, 2007. Here. 

David Hearn. “Move Over Heidi Fleiss . . . It’s Nellie Time.” Seattle PI. Jan. 14, 2008. Here.

John C. Hughes and Ryan Teague Beckwith. On the Harbor: From Black Friday to Nirvana. Stevens Press LLC. 2001.

“Seattle’s Long History with Prostitution” iwantrest.com March 20, 2013. Here. 

The post NAUGHTY NELLIE – “a madam of legendary proportion” first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

It’s not the first time Pompeian artifacts have toured the U.S. Premier Exhibitions organized this particular tour which was apparently concurrent with the 2013 Year of Italian Culture.

What strikes me when considering the abrupt stoppage of Pompeian life on August 25, AD 79 is the event’s suddenness. There had been plenty of earthquakes, some estimated to have been as high as a seven on the Richter scale. But earthquakes were a fact of life. An unsettling inconvenience. Mount Vesuvius was five miles away, but nothing to worry about.

Life was good in this prosperous city of approximately twenty thousand people. People enjoyed themselves. We know this from their artwork and material remains. The Three Graces of Beauty, Mirth and Abundance in the featured image bestowed all society could desire. Fertility of the Fields. Beauty in the Arts. Harmony in Society.

Citizens paid proper respect to the household gods. From left to right in the above picture. Genius with his companion snake bestowed procreative strength to the head of household. Jupiter protected the state. Mercury, the god of merchants, Ascelepius the god of medicine, Hercules, the god of strength, and Fortuna the goddess of luck kept everyone safe while Lares protected their homes.

Small dogs were popular pets. This sculpture of four small dogs is from a single piece of marble.

Jewelry like this gold bracelet with a serpent’s head above its tail adorned the wives and daughters of wealthy merchants.

Idealized gardens were an important aspect of the household. This fresco encapsulates the concept of paradise with its pigeon and peach tree.

The useful could also be beautiful. A pottery vessel shaped like a chicken. Jugs and bowls made from blue glass sourced in the Po Valley.

Pompeii was a trading center, exporting wine and a product known as garum throughout the empire. Garum was a sauce made from the crushed intestines of raw tuna and Moray eels. It added a sharp, salty taste to otherwise bland foods and was mass produced at the Sarno River. The mosaic below bears the inscription: Flower of Scaurus. Mackerel garm from the factory of Scaurus.

And then, Mt. Vesuvius erupted and life stopped in mid stride.

Twelve feet of volcanic rock and ash poured over the city. The heat – up to 570ºF killed at least two thousand people and solidified their bodies as they fell. The body casts are made by pouring resin into the body cavities. [Sidebar: Originally excavators poured plaster into the cavities.]

There is a special poignancy in these preserved remains. More than viewing mummies or photos of skeletal remains, these people are as they fell rather than how they were arranged after death. These were people minding their own business, killed without warning.

History is a neutral example of stories, exploits, and tragedies. Pompeii’s history reminds us that life is brief and people are seldom ready to leave it.

Factoid:

The Pacific Science Center was constructed by the federal government as part of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, and became a private, not-for-profit entity after the fair closed. Today it is an official City of Seattle Landmark.

Acknowledgements:

Featured Image: The Three Graces

Photos by Author. All Rights Reserved.

Explanation of the Three Graces taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here. 

Pacific Science Center – Seattle. Here.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen. ‘Pompeii: The Exhibition” unearths buried world of wonders. The Seattle Times. Feb 7, 2015. Here.

Doug Stewart. “Resurrecting Pompeii.” Smithsonian Magazine. Feb 2006. Here. 

Premier Exhibitions Inc. Announces New Pompeii Exhibition, Oct 2, 2013. Here.

The post POMPEII — MORE THAN A HISTORY LESSON first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

But that’s not today’s story. This is a personal story about a man, a dog, a wife, a daughter, and a Bucket List. The adventure began when Seattle Seahawks won the playoffs. The Handsome Bloke and I were in Honolulu at the time, enjoying a glass of wine.

The Handsome Bloke looked at me seductively. “Would you like to go to Seattle for a few days?”

“Why? It’s winter. Everyone in Seattle wants to be here.”

Handsome Bloke changed tactics. “Did you know the Seahawks won the playoffs?”

This was like asking if I knew the sun appears to rise in the East. Handsome Bloke has followed the Seattle Seahawks since before we were married. The first time the team made it to the Super Bowl (and lost), we had a Super Bowl party.

“I may have heard something about it. Wait, do you want to go to the Super Bowl?”

“The team organization put together this really cool package, and I thought you might want to stay in Seattle, and I could go to the game.”

Well, there’s not much I could say to that. “You do know the game is in New Jersey?”

“Yes – it’s at MetLife Field.”

“You realize it’s an outside stadium, and it’s really, really cold in New Jersey?”

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“Ah,” I thought, “a Bucket List item.” Out loud I said, “I’ll stay home where it’s warm. Why don’t you take our Seattle daughter with you?”

Did I mention she attends every – and I mean every – home game at Qwest Field?

“Can you get time off work?” we asked.
“Definitely. No problems.”

And so the Handsome Bloke flew to Seattle, connected with our daughter, and off they went for an amazing Super Bowl weekend.

Game day began with a “Tail Gate” party held on the top floor of a hotel in New York City. The party started at 10:30 and went until 2:30. Open bar. According to Handsome Bloke, a number of the group members took full advantage. At 2:30 the group was off to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The game didn’t start until 6:30. Don’t know where the other folks went, but my guy took a nap. He’s sensible that way.

Game on. Twelve seconds in, Seattle scored, and pretty much controlled the game after that. By the time I turned on the television after half time, the score was 22-0. It looked like Seattle would win. I only say that because in the past the Seahawks have been able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But not this time.

Then there was the Half Time Show – which Seattle Daughter said was amazing. Bruno Mars, Fireworks. Well, you probably saw it.

The game ended in disappointment for Bronco fans. But Seattle folks were flying high. A few in the Handsome Bloke’s group flew so high, they apparently forgot where the bus was. The group did not leave any stragglers. Their bus was the last to leave the MetLife parking lot at 11:30. This event was made worse, because next day pick up for Newark Airport was 6:30 a.m. for an 8:00 flight.

But wait, there’s more. While everyone slept, a snowstorm dropped enough snow to delay the flight by about four hours. Then, a couple group members were not present for boarding, and the flight couldn’t leave without them. So, passengers remained on board . . .waiting. And then when the people arrived, there was an altercation between them, the gate agent, and the flight crew. Finally everyone fastened their seatbelts and the plane took off, not nonstop to Seattle as originally scheduled, but to Chicago because they had to refuel. [This was probably a good idea. Flying on an empty tank is no fun.]

Among the passengers was a person who used an oxygen tank. The delays meant that by the time the plane got to Chicago, this passenger was almost out of oxygen. There were oxygen tanks on the plane, but no one knew how to use them. So, at Chicago the paramedics came and took the traveler to the hospital. Another passenger needed to use an aisle wheelchair to get to the lavatories. The crew contacted the ground personnel to bring a wheelchair. It took an hour to arrive at the gate.

The Handsome Bloke was holding up OK.  But, he had a unique problem. He’s a blind person traveling with a certified seeing-eye guide dog, (a beautiful black Labrador). The dog hadn’t been outside since he left the hotel. Could someone toilet the dog? Eventually, the captain took the dog off the plane. I’m told the dog was considerably more relaxed when he returned.

The flight from Chicago to Seattle was otherwise uneventful. Only 19 hours after leaving the hotel, the Handsome Bloke picked up his luggage at SeaTac Airport.

“So,” I asked this morning. “Was it worth it?”

“Absolutely. I’d never do it again, but it was totally worth it. Best of all, we won.”

I hear Phoenix, site of the NFL Super Bowl XLIX, has pretty good weather in January.

Game Photos by Cassandra Cabaong. All Rights Reserved.

Photo of Guide Dog Legend by Author. All Rights Reserved.

The post HANDSOME BLOKE CHECKS SUPER BOWL OFF BUCKET LIST first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Back to visiting Seattle.

Seattle is known for being a rainy, damp, and gloomy place – which it is for much of the year. But when the sun shines, the city glistens and beckons everyone outside. We had a family reunion this year, and on July 23 we decided to “play tourist.” The weather was perfect; the company was delightful, and the day was totally fun. You may want to do some or all of these activities on your own visit to the “Emerald City.”

RIDE THE DUCKS

The large rooftop inflatable duck, not to mention the “ducks in a row,” makes it difficult to miss the Duck location near Seattle Center.  http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com  

Our particular vehicle was built in 1946 – I’m surprised they can get parts any more.

Because we would be spending half the tour in Lake Union, Capt. “Chip A-Hoy” began  with a safety briefing.  Chip was a jolly soul leading his guests in silly songs while he pointed out the sights.

We cruised the shoreline, drove through Pioneer Square, and then approached the boat slip into Lake Union, a fresh water lake within the Seattle city limits – perhaps best known as the site of Tom Hank’s houseboat in Sleepless in Seattle.

Canadian geese were on hand to supervise our entry – the feathered chap in front providing visual instruction.  So, in we went.

Informational Factoid – the wheels keep spinning underwater. Presumably, this is what propels the vessel.   It was a perfect day to be on the water.

And then it was back to Seattle Center and the iconic Space Needle.

SPACE NEEDLE

Seattlites built the Space Needle in 1962 as part of the World’s Fair.  It is 605 feet tall and weighs 9,550 tons.  The elevators take 41 seconds to reach the top, and you can stay on the Observation Deck as long as you like. The rotating SkyCity Restaurant has clean windows and decent food.  The complete rotation takes 47 minutes, and the view was amazing. http://www.spaceneedle.com

MONORAIL  

Another popular attraction built for the 1962 World’s Fair is the Monorail. By now you may have figured out the fair’s theme was futuristic – with a strong dose of The Jetsons.  The monorail runs between Seattle Center and Westlake in downtown Seattle, and it’s been running continuously since the fair closed.  For years, it wasn’t take seriously, but now cities all over the world are turning to elevated fixed rail systems as a way to provide public transportation.

PIKE PLACE MARKET

When we got to Westlake we walked down to yet another Seattle icon.  Pike Place Market.  http://pikeplacemarket.org

This is a truly fascinating place.  Pike Place Market opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continuously operating markets in the U.S.  But the years were not entirely kind – the neighborhood changed. People’s shopping habits changed, and by the 1960’s the market had become a bit of an eyesore, slated for urban renewal demolition until citizens realized how much history would be lost if the market disappeared.  In 1971 voters approved a 17-acre historic district.

The market features crafts, flowers, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and just about anything else you might want. All vendors are local. The original Starbucks Coffee Shop is inside.

But perhaps the most famous shop in the market is the Pike Place Fish Co. http://pikeplacefish.com

Famous because this is the place where the vendors toss fish, crab, and squid from iced display cabinets to the guys in the back who prepare the fish to go home today – fresh or frozen. And no fishy smell.

Pike Place Market was the last stop on our Tourist Day.  We split up – some for shopping, some for relaxing at the hotel.  It was a great day, and we’re already thinking about other things to do on our next Seattle reunion.

Photos by Author.  All Rights Reserved

The post DAY TOUR IN SEATTLE first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

 OLYMPIC HOTEL.  When I was a high school student in a Seattle bedroom community on the other side of Lake Washington, those two words symbolized all that was posh and sophisticated. I never dreamed I could set foot inside such an illustrious palace, let alone stay there regularly.

The Olympic Hotel is a palace of dreams and romance. The proud result of a city’s efforts to place itself on the map of sophistication – proof that Seattle was more than the last stop on the way to the Alaskan Gold Rush. City Fathers had a challenge: What edifice could make Seattle as sophisticated as San Francisco?

One visible answer is the University Avenue façade. Let’s float back in time, to 1861 when Arthur Denny, one of Seattle’s pioneers, donated what was known as Denny’s Hill to be used for a Territorial University.  The current plaque denotes Denny, his wife Mary, and five of their colleagues as university founders.  In 1895 the university moved away from what had become ten acres of prime metropolitan real estate.  But the Regents kept the property – a wise decision.

Fast forward – zip-zip-zip.  World War I was over; the United States was enjoying massive economic growth. Members of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce decided their town needed a world-class hotel. They partnered with the Metropolitan Building Company to form the Community Hotel Corporation and launch a public bond drive.  Developers sold $3,000,000 worth of bonds to 4500 individual investors.

The Seattle Times encouraged public excitement with a contest to name the hotel.  Out of nearly 4,000 entries, real estate broker Robert E. Ellzey won the $50 prize, which he promptly donated to construction costs.  Good thing too, ‘cuz when construction finished in 1924, the bill came to $4,500,00 – which was a lot of money.

Grand Opening, December 6, 1924.  The modified Italian Renaissance style hotel had 617 rooms – all with en suite bathrooms, or at least showers.  There were crystal chandeliers, damask drapes, walnut furniture, and plenty of marble floors.  Bellhops wore uniforms with gold buttons.  Such opulence gave more than one of the guests the vapors, I’m sure. As the Seattle Times gushed: “In the province whence come social calendars, a capitol has been provided.”

The Olympic Hotel Company did not let such praise go to its head: “The management will give service in keeping with this civic monument, which typifies the enterprise and public spirit of Seattle”

Such modesty turned out to be a good idea.  The stock market crashed in 1929.  By 1933 the hotel was in receivership.  She limped along during World War II.  In 1955 Westin Hotels took over management.  The Olympic gathered her increasingly tattered skirts and held up her head.  She was still the most famous hotel in Seattle.  But it wasn’t the same.

Everything changed in 1979.  Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts took over.  The Olympic became an historic property. The new managers embarked on an astonishing $62.5 million restoration, beginning with a garage sale of almost everything in the hotel. Workers pealed World War II black-out paint off the walls of the Georgian Restaurant; sandblasting restored a soft tan color to the exterior facades, and original crystal chandeliers sparkled once again.

At the Grand Re-opening on May 23, 1982, Albert Kerry and his wife were the first to register. Kerry’s father attended the original Grand Opening. As Kerry began to sign the register, his wife Audrey announced, “It’s a new world. I’m signing for myself.”

Even more astonishing, the Four Seasons Olympic was the first Seattle hotel to have valet parking.

The remodeled circular entrance and drive faces University Avenue with the hotel’s only garden and fountain.

In 2003 Fairmont Hotels & Resorts became the new proprietors with a continued commitment to Five Star Service.

Times have changed since 1924.  The Olympic Hotel has many competitors in the greater Seattle area.  But I suspect the panache of attending an event at the Olympic Hotel is still present.  And those two words – Olympic Hotel – still mean romance, sophistication, and class.

Photos by Author. All Rights Reserved.

Sources:

See: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=1979 and http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7161

The post OLYMPIC HOTEL: DOYENNE OF 1920s SEATTLE first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

First list: Activities. I need business attire, casual clothes for doing research and normal life, dressy items for formal dining. And, of course, work out gear.

Second list: Weather. Summer is easier than Fall, Winter, or Spring. Except when it isn’t. I once was in York, England for June and July. I anticipated some inclement weather – the occasional light rain. Wrong. I wore layers every day. First, the tank top, followed by the shell, the shirt, the pull over sweater, the raincoat, and gloves. And then there was the formal dinner. I am not kidding. Good thing there was time to shop.

Let’s leave the clothes for now. What next?
Third list: Electronics. There was a time when I occasionally packed a hair dryer. Paper sufficed for everything else. Of course, that was when my cabin baggage consisted entirely of printed notes from a yearlong research trip. Now, I have a jump drive . . . somewhere. PLUS . . . on my last trip: MacBook Air, iPad, iPhone, portable hard drive, digital camera, cords and other paraphernalia. [Sidebar: I think paraphernalia is a very cool word. It means ‘stuff’ but it sounds so exotic. Can I use it in a sentence? Hmmm . . . “Let me gather my photographic paraphernalia before we get into the Jeep.”]

OK, that’s sorted. Let’s move on to “personal items/toiletries. If you have the fantasy of traveling with just a carry-on bag, everything better be in 3-ounce containers that can fit into a 1-quart plastic bag.

Back to clothing. Yes, I know. Layers. Coordinated colors – which usually translates into black, grey, white, brown, navy and beige + scarves and/or cheap clunky jewelry. Professional “packers” recommend thin fabrics. They pack smaller than wool, linen, or cotton, and you won’t have to iron them later. [Iron? Moi?] Don’t fold your clothes, roll them, and save space by stuffing your shoes.

At this point, hysteria creeps up. How many days am I gone? Would anyone notice if I wore the Tre Elegant Knit Tank Travel Dress from TravelSmithcom (http://www.travelsmith.com/tres-elegant-knit-tank-travel-dress/women/dresses/21559?defattrib=&defattribvalue=&listIndex=10 ) to the formal dinner with six forks? Would their eyes be dazzled if I paired it with my imitation Hermes scarf, or would they fixate on my all-occasion slightly scuffed gold flats? Never mind, I’ll put in the light blue sparkly cocktail dress and kitten heels.

There are lots of websites with packing tips. Two of them, complete with suggested packing lists, are “How to Pack Light” by Josie at Travelista.com http://travelista.com/packing/how-to-pack-light/ and “How to Pack Light” by Dana Sullivan Kilroy at Away.com http://away.com/travel-advice/travel-ta-how-to-pack-light-sidwcmdev_155212.html

Single most important things to pack: a genuine smile and a sense of humor – the rest does not really matter . . . much.

The post How I Attempt to Pack Light first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.